554 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



some extent. Large deposits of the mineral have been found in 

 North Carolina, but its quality is not considered as satisfactory 

 as that from the Adirondack region. Other deposits are said to 

 occur in Georgia and Alaska, but no definite information can be 

 obtained concerning them. Connecticut is also mentioned as a 

 source of garnet. 



This garnet is used almost exclusively in the manufacture of 

 sandpaper, or garnet-paper, as it is called, which is employed 

 extensively for abrasive purposes in the manufacture of boots 

 and shoes. It is also employed to some extent in the wood 

 manufacturing industry. For metals garnet is not as good as 

 emery, although some satisfactory results have been obtained 

 from its use on brass. It has been experimentally mixed with 

 emery in the manufacture of emery-wheels but without very 

 satisfactory results. The firms quarrying and using garnet from 

 the Adirondack region are H. II. Barton & Co., of Philadelphia, 

 who control very extensive deposits there ; Baeder, Adamson 

 & Co., of Philadelphia; Herman Behr & Co., of New York, 

 who also are interested in the deposits in Delaware county, Pa.; 

 "Wiggins & Stevens of Boston, who are also interested in 

 the deposit at Chester, Pa.; the Boston Flint-paper Co., and the 

 Union Sandpaper Co., of Boston. 



In commercial use garnet is found to be harder, sharper and 

 more lasting than quartz and is preferred to it for certain kinds 

 of work, although it costs about eight times as much as quartz. 

 The Adirondack garnet is said to be worth about $40 a ton at 

 the railroad, although the average value of the mineral through- 

 out the country is stated to be about $3x The superiority of 

 garnet to quartz is probably due to the fact of its ready cleavage, 

 which enables it to present, as it breaks away, new and sharp 

 cutting edges, whereas quartz, -which has no cleavage, becomes 

 dulled by friction. The only garnet now mined in the Adirondack 

 region is the pocket garnet, which is used to make the better 

 grade of garnet-paper. Some of the massive garnet has been 

 used to make sandpaper for wood-working, and also mixed with 

 corundum to make emery-wheels. The total production of 

 Adirondack garnet in 1893 was about 520 tons, but this was much 

 ess than th usual output owing to the general stagnation of 

 business and the small demand for garnet- paper. For several 



